German Jews prepare shipment for Gaza: group
AFP
10-Jun-2010 (one comment)

BERLIN — German Jews are preparing to send a ship loaded with humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip at the end of July despite an Israeli blockade, a representative for the initiative said on Thursday.

"The list of passengers has not been drawn up yet but we have a lot of requests from around the world," said Edith Lutz, who is preparing the journey for the German chapter of European Jews for a Just Peace.

Lutz told Deutschlandfunk public radio that the group had collected donations for children in Gaza including binders with educational materials, games, clothing and musical instruments.

The Israeli raid on May 31 on a Gaza-bound activist aid flotilla, during which nine Turkish activists were shot dead, meant that: "Our ship is more urgent than ever," she said.

"We are in contact with the Israeli government and the embassy in Berlin. We informed them a while ago," Lutz said. She said the embassy had said it would not help the organisation but that discussions were continuing.

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PressTV report

by IranMilitaryForum.net on Thu Jun 10, 2010 07:14 PM PDT

Jews to send
Gaza blockade-buster ship


Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:55:52 GMT

A
group of Jewish activists in Germany are preparing to send an aid ship
to the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli-imposed blockade for
three years.

The group, which is the German branch of the European Jews for a
Just Peace, plans to send the aid ship by the end of July.

"We want to break the Gaza occupation and end the occupation of the
West Bank as well... we as Jews want to bring the Palestinians something
other than bombs," Kate Katzenstein-Leiterer, a member of the executive
committee of the group, said on Thursday.

The ship will be carrying school supplies, musical instruments,
children's clothing and other children items that Israel has forbidden,
such as sweets and chocolates, Spiegel Online reported.

About 16 people will be onboard the vessel. However, a lot of
activists form around the world are sending requests to join the group,
including some volunteers from Israel, Katzenstein-Leiterer said.

European Jews for a Just Peace has been collecting funds for the aid
ship since 2008.

After Israel's bloody assault on the Freedom Flotilla on May 31,
interest in the project has increased and donations have been flooding
to the group, Katzenstein-Leiterer said.

Edith Lutz, another member the European Jews for a Just Peace, said
that the group was in contact with Israeli officials.

"We are in contact with the Israeli government and the embassy in
Berlin. We informed them a while ago," she was quoted by AFP as saying.

However, the group is concern over the possibility of an Israeli
attack on the ship.

Israel has put Gaza Strip under all-out blockade, preventing
international aid groups from entering the region.

On May 31, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which was carrying food and
medical supplies to Gaza, came under fire early in the morning by
Israeli navy forces in international waters.

Twenty international activists were killed in the deadly assault and
50 others were injured in the incident.       //www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129920&sectio...


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